Megan Walker named AAC Player of the Year; Geno Auriemma named Coach of the Year

Just as UConn women’s basketball blew through the American Athletic Conference on the court, the Huskies finished a sweep of the conference’s top honors. On Friday, Megan Walker was named the AAC Player of the Year, the seventh year in a row that a UConn player nabbed the award in the seven-year history of the conference. The junior joins former Huskies Napheesa Collier (2017, 2019), Katie Lou Samuelson (2017, 2018) and Breanna Stewart (2014-16) as players to win the honor.

Walker was also a unanimous All-AAC First Team pick. In 16 conference games this season, Walker averaged 20.0 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game. She was also nearly unstoppable from the three-point line, hitting 49.4 percent from beyond the arc and 54.8 percent from the field overall. Walker also won the AAC’s Player of the Week award four times this season.

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma won the AAC Coach of the Year award, leading the Huskies to a perfect 16-0 record in conference play. It is his sixth time earning the honor in the American and 16th time overall.

However, those two weren’t the only ones to earn some hardware. Crystal Dangerfield was a unanimous All-AAC first team selection after averaging 13.8 points and 4.7 assists in conference play. Christyn Williams also made the first team with a stat line of 15.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game against AAC opponents.

Olivia Nelson-Ododa made the All-AAC second team with 10.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting a team-high 60.3 percent from the floor in the conference. Anna Makurat, though she didn’t win the AAC Freshman of the Year, still was a unanimous selection for the All-Freshman team thanks to 10.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists per game along with a 43.8 percent mark from beyond the arc.

USF’s Elena Tsineke beat out Makurat for Freshman of the Year while ECU’s Lashonda Monk won Defensive Player of the Year, Temple’s Ashley Jones was crowned Newcomer of the Year, Cincinnati’s Angel Rizor took home Most Improved Player and Tulane’s Dynah Jones was tabbed the Sixth Player of the Year.

UConn women’s basketball kicks off the AAC Tournament on Saturday at 2 p.m., facing the winner of No. 8 Temple and No. 9 ECU at Mohegan Sun Arena.